


Introspection of a Doubter

by Palefire73



Series: Prisoners. The Chronicles of Loki and Erika [7]
Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel, Norse Gods - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Reality, F/M, Fluff, Love, Romance, Uncertainty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 21:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11067051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Palefire73/pseuds/Palefire73
Summary: Loki and Erika spend a frivolous morning teasing each other as they go about their daily chores, but as Erika naps after a picnic, our beloved Trickster begins to wonder what their future holds, even though he has no idea that they are, in fact, prisoners.





	Introspection of a Doubter

Sometimes in life, there are days when a sense of silliness and fun arrive and it is almost impossible to ignore, often leading to all kinds of capers and joking around. For some reason, Erika awoke one morning and simply could not help herself; from the moment she arrived in the kitchen and tickled Loki’s ribs as he tried to carry a tray of fresh biscuits to the table, she found herself unable to resist a bit of tom foolery. How Loki did not lose his temper was a miracle, but he didn’t and even began to join in. The two of them ended up at one point laughing so hard that they were doubled over and nearly crying with the pain of it.

 

They had attempted to calm down and to get on with the days’ chores, but the tone had been set and each of them found little things left by the other here and there which brought continued amusement for nearly the whole morning. At lunchtime, Erika called for a truce and they pic-nicked in a pretty part of the gardens with the gentle breeze soughing through the leaves on the trees – which were turning with the season to gold, orange and red – the bees were buzzing whilst lazily collecting nectar and pollen from the late flowers and birds were chirruping from their various perches in trees and on walls and fence posts.  It was a warm day despite it being autumn and Erika found herself dozing off in the afternoon sunshine.

Loki watched as his companion’s eyelids drooped and as she lay down on her side on the blanket they had brought. It was not long before the mild soporific effect had fully taken effect and she was napping peacefully. He released the Seidr he had been employing on her; he was satisfied that she would not waken for at least half an hour and he watched with curiosity as the shimmering remnants of the spell blew away on the breeze. The shade of the dispersing magic was not what he had expected and he found himself intrigued by it. When casting Seidr, there was always a signature which was visible to those with the Sight, and on the occasions where a particularly powerful spell was required, even those without the Sight could see whatever colour that particular person’s Seidr gave off. In Loki’s case, it was usually a deep green; sometimes a lighter more cheerful green, sometimes a vibrant and deep shade and rarely a dark and stormy shade, all dependent on the circumstances under which it was being used. However, since he had gone through the process of eschewing his responsibilities back in Asgard for a simpler life here in the Southlands, he had found that his colours had started to subtly alter, and were becoming progressively bluer. Various interesting colours were coming out of him when he used his Seidr at the moment; turquoise, peacock blue, teal, sapphire and azure to name a few, and he realised that he must be reverting to his infant colours. Perhaps it was because he was finally in tune with the realm now that he was working closer with the land and the animals on the small holding. He smiled up at the gentle Asgardian Sun; it mattered not why his Seidr was changing colour at this time of his life. He was truly happy here and as long as he could still cast enough of it to keep things comfortable and running smoothly, then whether it was green or blue was irrelevant.

 

The God of Mischief settled down on the blanket to lie on his side to face Erika and he studied her intensely. She was a strange one! Even though she was still a teenager, she was often wise beyond her years and her words could cut Loki dead if she felt he was being childish when they had disagreements! He knew he was lucky, however; a strange twist of fate had meant that this beautiful young woman had inherited mutated genes and she was destined to live for a very long time, possibly even as long as Loki himself, and the thought of not having to watch her grow old and die within only a century or two was wonderful. Too many of the people he had grown close to had been of mortal blood and he had lost too many of them during his thousand years of life.

 

He sighed and reached out to stroke the blonde curls of the pretty girl who had given up her high status on the Palace Staff in order to come away with him and live a simpler life. _What a sacrifice to have made for him_ , he mused, yet she was here because she claimed to love him too much to stay in Asgard when he had left. He was very glad she had decided to join him, of course. He did not know how long he could have stayed here on his own, knowing that the woman he loved was back in the golden city he had come to hate. He could no longer quite put his finger on the source of his dislike for the capital of Asgard, only that whenever he thought about it, a strong sense of never wanting to go back pervaded his mind to the detriment of all else and his mind would quickly turn to happier thoughts.

 

He gently wound one of the beautiful golden curls around his long slim fingers and studied how it shone in the late afternoon sunshine. Happier thoughts, of course, included Erika. In the last week or so since she had arrived here and had become part of his life again, he had been mystified by his attitude each morning; upon waking up, she had been the first thing on his mind. Whether he was the first to arise – in which case he would go downstairs to prepare her a delicious breakfast – or Erika was already busying herself about the kitchen, the desire to see her for the first time again each morning was strong and almost insatiable. In fact, she had never had the opportunity to bring him a cup of tea in bed, because he simply could not lie there once he was awake; he wanted to get up to see her.

 

It was the same at night. Erika was the last thing on his mind as the sleep maidens claimed him. Although he knew they had shared intimacy a long time ago in Asgard and he knew it would only be a matter of time and circumstance before they did so again, he was content for the moment to get to know Erika again, and this time to do it properly. Her station at the Palace had been in servitude to him and his family and as far as he could recall, it had probably put a strain on any feelings they had developed for each other. Undoubtedly, that had been one of the sources of stress which had led to his decision to seek counselling and to actually leave altogether. And so Loki had contented himself with thoughts of Erika as he lay in bed at night and the anticipation of what they might eventually share together. For now, the arrangement with her sleeping in the guest room across the landing would suffice.

 

As he lay there on the blanket caressing Erika’s hair and musing on their relationship, Loki’s mind turned to the future which was further away and wondered what Erika’s thoughts were about that. _Would she be happy here after a year? Two? A decade?_ A smile of hope crossed the God’s face… _would she consent to become his wife perhaps? To starting a family?_ As these ideas formed in Loki’s mind, a bubble of happiness formed in his chest and something he did not notice happened. His hair, which had faded from black to a dark chocolate brown over the last couple of weeks, began to get the slightest of red streaks appearing, enriching the colour and giving it a more vibrant hue. The paleness of his skin ebbed just a touch, ridding him of the relatively unhealthy facade and lending him a slightly ruddier glow. And finally, the intense emerald glint in his eyes softened almost imperceptibly. Loki was changing. He was adapting to this new life in the manner of the shape-shifter he was. Not a conscious and drastic change; more of an evolution.

 

A pair of clear crystal blue eyes fluttered open and their owner smiled to see that Loki was lying next to her and studying her. She reached out and stroked his face with her soft finger tips and moved forward to plant a sweet kiss on his lips, melting his heart completely.

 

“How long have I been asleep?” She asked, rubbing the tip of her nose against his before kissing him again, “It was very nice to wake up to find you next to me.”

“Long enough and I have enjoyed watching you while you slept.” Loki returned her kiss and then drew back to look into her beautiful blue eyes. “Do you think you will be happy with me here, Erika?” He asked.

Erika sighed contentedly and stretched out on the blanket to look up at the sunshine, which was starting to make its way down to the horizon as the early evening arrived. She reached out and grabbed one of Loki’s hands and squeezed it tightly. And then she gave Loki an answer he could have only begged the Norns for:

 

“Loki, I think I will be very happy here… especially with you.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I love introspective writing, so I just had to indulge. Also, I don't tend to write Loki's thoughts as much as other people's so I thought it would be fun to let you peek inside his head.  
> What I am wondering now is... what would Erika think if he put these questions to her, bearing in mind she knows exactly where they are!
> 
> Quick shout out to ChocoManga, as your comment regarding his changing has definitely ensured it will be pursued further in these stories x
> 
> Thanks for reading along :)
> 
> Palefire73  
> x


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